- Why are people blaming MoistCr1tikal
for the new cool way to get C.T.E.?
Why people are demanding Atlanta police body-cam footage
be released?
Well, we know about the horrible news in California so far.
The dam problem in America, that's just getting worse.
We've got all that and so much more to talk about
on today's brand new Philip DeFranco Show.
So buckle up, hit that like button
and let's just jump into it.
(pensive music)
(hand thuds) (spectators groan)
- [Commentator] It's over.
It's over, do not get up.
- So that insanity is from clips of a new show called
"Power Slap, Road to the Title."
It's got some people excited, but a lot of others saying
this just looks like violence porn,
the train to brain damage town and-
- He's absolutely going to have someone die
if he keeps it going like that.
- Alright so, some details and background.
This was created by UFC President, Dana White,
and it started airing on TBS last week.
And the premise is, well it's exactly what it sounds like.
It's a competition series
where competitive power slappers
slap the ever-loving-shit outta their opponents.
Well, the controversy actually goes back
before the show even aired
because its release date had to be delayed
after Dana White had a physical altercation with his wife.
Because video footage got out
showing the two of them talking
when his wife all of a sudden slapped him in the face,
he then went in and slapped her back,
leading to a scuffle and people having to pull them apart.
With all that coming out New Year's Day,
and the show originally scheduled to come out
on January 11th.
You know, specifically bad optics.
But now the show is out there
and you have many concerned about those involved
suffering serious brain damage.
And honestly, I mean, when you look at the clips,
you can see why.
Where in that first clip the guy got hit so hard,
he falls straight to the ground,
seemingly losing consciousness for a few moments
until the medical staff's able to wake him up.
And once he's up, he doesn't even know what happened to him.
It's like he jumped time.
- Got knocked out doing what?
Was I fighting?
- You see, people sharing that segment
as well as other clips
where people are just getting brutally hit on social media
with one neurologist saying
that the people who do this may never be the same.
Saying Dana White and TBS should be ashamed.
Pure exploitation. What's next?
Who can survive a stabbing?
And even professional fighters like Ryan Garcia saying,
"The show needs to be stopped."
Others writing, "Just here to say
that PowerSlap is dangerous and fundamentally wrong.
Dana White should hang his head in shame with this."
And adding, "I hope it gets stopped
before the damage to the fighters gets worse.
With other combat sports,
you are told to protect yourself at all times.
With PowerSlap, fighters are defenseless
and at unnecessary risk."
And that's one of the key things people are arguing,
that sports like boxing have defense tactics.
But in power slapping
you're asking for a concussion every single time.
We also saw this controversy affecting non fighters?
Like Charlie MoistCr1tikal
who I featured for a second at the top of this story,
he actually responded to the situation
because he was somehow wrapped up into the controversy.
Right, because in the past
he actually talked about how he loves slap fighting
as a niche sport.
And so he had some people actually upset
that he had promoted this kind of sport,
that he's okay with this level of violence.
But he ended up posting a video over the weekend
clarifying he is not on board with Dana White
or the PowerSlap Show.
- What he's doing is significantly more dangerous
than the slap fighting that I enjoy.
- Explaining that in the leagues that he watches,
they follow a much stricter set of rules
designed to protect people.
And with PowerSlap?
- Like I wouldn't be surprised if in the next episode
they have like a halftime show
where two people just hit each other in the face
with baseball bats
until one of them loses their entire (beep) head,
and just gets decapitated.
- But ultimately for now, one of the biggest questions is
will this succeed?
Right, because it's already on TV right now.
You have the Nevada State Athletic Commission
seemingly in support of it.
Well, the show premiered to kind of meh ratings.
The controversy around this
and all the conversation it has sparked
is going to raise interest.
So I really wouldn't be surprised
if the viewership numbers on this went up,
even if people are watching it
because it's kind of a freak show.
And as far as why Dana White and other promoters
would maybe wanna support something like this,
is that likely in his eyes, it solves one of his issues.
People complaining about boring fights.
Right, so many people love those clippable crazy KOs.
You know, I've lost track of the number of times
yeah, you know, I've been watching like a,
UFC pay-per-view.
I think it's a great fight.
But then I go online and people are like
"Why are they cuddle fucking?"
Meanwhile, what you're watching
is just like a a wild showcasing
of like, wrestling and jujitsu.
Hey, it's super technical.
Or the way others have put it,
instead of making like a another MLB,
another baseball league,
you're making a league where it's only the Home Run Derby.
Except that's not a fantastic one-to-one comparison
because I don't know anyone that's getting C.T.E. guaranteed
in every Home Run Derby.
And if anything, I feel extra bad for these fighters
who literally are not allowed to defend themselves.
Because with Dana White at the helm of this,
they're risking all of this for what?
Probably three nickels and a Baja blast.
Like it's just pure insanity.
And then, now there are thousands of ticking time bombs
all across America just waiting to go off right now.
But, it's not like the classic
"Do I cut the red wire or the blue wire?"
Kind of bomb.
Instead, what I'm talking about
is the cornerstone of our infrastructure, dams.
Because there's about 92,000 of them in the United States
and they prevent flooding, generate electricity
and store water for us.
And the problem is that a lot of them are breaking down,
be it from crumbling concrete, broken floodgates,
or damaged support beams.
In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers
gave our flood control infrastructure a D in 2021.
And an AP analysis in 2022
found more than 2,200 high-hazard dams
in poor or unsatisfactory condition.
And then, just a couple of months ago,
USA Today counted nearly 3,000 dams
in areas that are getting more frequent storms
than in the past,
that are listed in poor or unsatisfactory condition
and would probably kill people or destroy property
if they failed,
without including the Overholser Dam in Oklahoma City.
With a 2015 model predicting
what would happen if it broke during the worst-case flood?
And finding it would inundate a path two miles wide
and 30 miles long, flooding mobile homes,
hotels, and schools.
And if that sounds bad to you, that is nothing
compared to South Carolina's 130-year-old Connestee Dam,
which is reportedly close to cracking wide open.
And that's horrifying news
because it's the only thing standing between
tens of thousands of Greenville residents
and the millions of tons of toxic chemicals
and raw sewage straining to break free.
But even though the State Department
of Health and Environmental Controls
agrees that the state of the dam is hazardous
and lawmakers say "It is leaking,"
they're struggling to scrounge up the cash for repairs.
And this is in no way the only one
that could introduce nasty chemicals under the equation.
Right, in 2021, ProPublica found that with 81 dams
in 24 states, if they were to fail,
they could flood a major toxic waste site
and spread contaminated material
into surrounding communities.
And in fact, we almost saw that happen back in 2020
with Michigan's Edenville Dam.
With that erupting, forcing thousands of people to evacuate
and flooding a Dow Chemical plant.
Though luckily there,
there was no reported evidence of significant toxic release.
But the future looks concerning
because as dams continue to age,
climate change will bring stronger storms
and heavier rainfall, leading to a very concerting
and possibly explosive situation
for those caught below the breach.
And although Biden's 2021 Infrastructure Package
had allocated $3 billion to dam related projects,
it barely touches the $76 billion
needed to fix nearly 89,000 dams
not owned by the Federal Government.
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And then, things are crazy in Atlanta this weekend
after a protest turned violent.
Right, so people had come out on Saturday
to protest the construction of a $90 million,
85 acre, planned police training facility
dubbed "Cop City."
As well as the death of activist, Manuel Esteban Paez Teran.
Because Manuel had been protesting the facility as well,
camping out in the woods where it was going to be built.
And last Wednesday, officers came to clear out the area
and arrest those within it.
They find Paez Teran, they tell him to get out
and according to their version of events,
he then shoots an officer,
with them returning fire and killing him.
Alright, so we see Saturday's protest over these two things
as well as to bring awareness
to the Atlanta Police Foundation and its connections,
with demonstrators marching down a major Atlanta street.
And according to the police chief, Darin Schierbaum,
things were largely peaceful.
But going on to say that eventually a smaller group
began to break off from the crowd
and were committing a illegal acts.
Like things like breaking windows, setting cop cars on fire.
And things eventually calming down with six arrests
by the end of Saturday,
with those arrested facing charges including
domestic terrorism, arson in the first degree,
criminal damage and interference with government property.
Now with this controversy, we should step out
and talk about how different groups are framing it.
Where we're seeing more conservative outlets seeing this
as another example of violent protesting in the cities
as well as Antifa running amuck.
Going as far as to claim that Paez Teran was part of Antifa.
But meanwhile, you have others saying and asking things
like, "Y'all mad about cars and windows
when forest defender Paez Teran was murdered by the police?
What's the appropriate response to murder?"
Which leads us to the next big controversy
in this whole situation.
What actually happened in the woods?
Right, we have the police's version of events,
that he shot at them, he wounded an officer,
they shot back and he was killed.
That's not murder.
Which is why we're seeing some activists saying
that the police's version of events are a lie
despite the alleged evidence the police have released.
Which brings us to the good news.
We can figure out who is telling the truth
because we have body footage.
Except apparently, no, we actually don't
because the Georgia Bureau of Investigations
won't release the footage,
claiming that the cameras on the scene
don't actually show what happened.
With Manuel's mother telling The Guardian
"I'm convinced that he was assassinated in cold blood."
and others demanding an independent investigation.
But for now, that's where we are.
And as we wait to see what else comes from this,
I wanna pass a question off to you.
What are your thoughts here?
And Then, we of course need to talk about
the tragic shooting that happened
in Monterey Park, California,
that left 11 dead and nine others injured.
So what we know is that the attack took place
Saturday evening at the popular Star Ballroom Dance Studio
in the close-knit predominantly Asian suburb of Los Angeles,
where celebrations were taking place
for a Lunar New Year's Eve.
The Ballroom Dance Studio is Chinese-owned,
frequented by older Chinese Americans.
And according to law enforcement officials,
shortly after 10:00 PM
the gunman entered the studio and began to fire.
Then leaving the scene and going to another dance studio
a few miles away in the neighboring Alhambra.
With LA County Sheriff, Robert Luna, saying
the shooter walked in there
probably with the intent to kill more people.
But miraculously, two people confronted the suspect
and were able to disarm him,
with Luna saying, the shooter had a large capacity
semi-automatic pistol that he does not think is legal
in California.
But as far as the heroes,
we know one was 26-year-old Brandon Tsay
who was the third generation operator
of the family-run studio.
In fact, we now have surveillance videos
of Brandon confronting the attacker, struggling with him
and eventually getting control of the gun.
With Brandon later describing the fight
to Good Morning America.
"He started prepping his weapon and something came over me.
I realized I needed to get the weapon away from him.
I needed to take this weapon
and disarm him or else everybody would've died."
And going on to say, once he got control of the gun,
he pointed it at him and told him to get out.
With the authorities saying
the man then fled in a white cargo van
prompting an hours long manhunt
that ultimately ended when a SWAT team
cornered the van in a parking lot in Torrance
about 30 miles away from the shootings.
And there the attacker took his own life.
Now, as far as what we know about the shooter
Luna identified him as a 72-year-old man of Asian descent.
And as a recording, authorities have said so far,
that an official motive is unclear.
Right now, there are a bunch of different
conflicting reports and theories
but none have actually been confirmed by the police yet.
Though according to CNN,
the suspect's ex-wife and longtime acquaintance
both said he had been a regular patron
at Star Ballroom Dance Studio.
While his ex-wife told the outlet
that he had never been violent towards her,
she did say he could be quick to anger.
Meanwhile, the acquaintance said
that when the suspect frequented the dance hall
he would often complain that the instructors
at the dance hall didn't like him
and said evil things about him.
And adding that this man was hostile
to a lot of people there.
We also had a Los Angeles magazine reporting
that a law enforcement source said
that the attacker was looking for his wife
at both the dance halls that he went to
and that there was increasing evidence
that this was domestic violence.
But also at least appeared to be backed up by Chester Chong,
the chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce
of Los Angeles and a community leader in Monterey Park
who said that he had heard the attack was related
to domestic violence.
With him also telling multiple outlets,
that jealousy might have been a possible motive
because he was told the suspect's wife
had been invited to the Lunar New Year party,
but he had not.
But then, you also have law enforcement sources
telling analysts that the man
had recently shown up at a local police station
saying that his family was trying to poison him.
With an official also telling the New York Times
that investigators believe the suspect
specifically targeted some of the people that were killed,
but others seem to have been killed randomly.
So it's an important thing to remember
that with this horrific story,
there are a lot of moving parts here.
Of course, we need to wait to see what updates we get
because this is still a developing story.
And very unfortunately, stories like this are not as rare
as they should be in our country.
Whether it be gun violence in general
or shooting incidents where there are more
than 10 victims.
Right, I mean, just early morning Sunday,
according to reports, 12 people were injured in a shooting
at a nightclub in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
And in a press conference yesterday,
the Baton Rouge Police Chief
said that based on preliminary investigations,
the incident was not a random act of violence.
And added, "We believe that this was a targeted event
where someone was specifically targeted
and others were injured in that process."
Then at the same time,
you have a law enforcement source telling CNN
that some witnesses at the club said a fight broke out
between two different groups of patrons
and then multiple people pulled out guns
and just began shooting.
Which mean both of those possible scenarios
equally horrifying.
And that actually brings us to the end of today's show.
When you leave the comment down below
on the news that mattered most to you,
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and being subscribed to my daily dives into the news.
If you missed yesterday's Sunday PDS, check it out here.
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But as always, my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in.
I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.